Folding bed-couch.



E. B. MILLERT.

FOLDING BED 0011011.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 14, 1908, RENEWED APR. 28, 1910. g'mfigg PatentedBee. 6, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SH ATTORIVE VS E. B. MILLERT.

FOLDING BED COUCH. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 14, 1908. RENEWED APR. 28,1910.

Patented Dec. 6, 1910.

ATTORNEYS we r ra ium? Electoral-MG i in a EDGAR. B. HELLER/L, OF NEWYORK, N. Y.

FOLDING BED-CGUCH.

To dlltvhom "it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Econ: 13. iilimizn'r, av citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident ofllletvffork, county and State of New York. haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Bed-Couches, oi?which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates more particularly to a' folding bed couch inwhich two rclalively movable members may be made to fold in compactspace or to. be moved so as to make the bed substantially double itswidth while in an extended position. The primary obge'ct of theinvention is to provide simple and eiiicient article of the classdescribed in which the entire frame work of the bed may be made of metaland so constructed that it will hehght and strong, and the parts readilyass mbled, and

in. which the mattress and spring may be made to fold under the uppersurface thereof in such a way that it may be made to serve as a shelfand to make the. bed very compact, thu'sovercoming many of the. ob-

jections incident to the ordinary form of bed I in which the parts aremade very heavy and cumbersome and are not adapted to be folded in acompact space and serve the double purpose of a bed and couch.

A further objectof the invention is to provide a simple and eiiicientframe for the bed. in which onemember remains normallystationary and theother member is mo vablc with relation thereto, and carries the mattressand spring, and has certain parts thereoi formed with atelescopicconnection with the normally stationary member, and to pro- ..vide anarticle in which the parts are so supported that the membcrsmay be movedrela tively with respect to each other without 'difiiculty. furtherobject of the invention is to' provide a simple and efficient guard forp'reventing the members while being folded from coming mto contact withthe wall and to so support the mattress that it will prop- 'erly yieldtoaiiord the desired comfort 'while in use.

With these and other objects in view the invention will be hereinaftermore particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification, and will then be pointed :out'in the claims at the end of tie descrip- *t-ion.

Specification of Letters Patent.

.ication filed November 14, 1908, Serial No. 482,623. Renewed April 28,1910. Serial No. 558,287.

In the drawings, Figure l. is a plan view of one form of deviceembodying my invenlion v howing the same in a folded position. Fig. 2 anend elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3' a longitudinal section showing thearticle in position for use as a bed. Fig. i; is an enlarged verticalsection through a part of the :trame of one of the members showing howthe mattress and springmay be supported to be folded or extended. a.fragmentary sectional plan, partly in ole vation, of one end of theframe extended; Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse section, taken on aline VI-VI Off Figs. 3 and Fig. (his af'agmentary section showing oneend of the movable bar connected to the extension member; and Fig. 7 is'a fragmentary sectional view, partly in elevation, showing a diiierentform of means for mov- Fig.

ing the chains to which the mattress springparts of the frame as well asits construction may be changed, and that any of the parts may beformed-of other material than metal.

Thenormally stationary member 10 is provided with upright posts 11 atthe front thereof which are connected by the tubularparls or member 12,such as pipe so as to form the front of said member, and at the rearthereof are the uprights or posts 13 which have one part, as 14, oilsetfrom the part 15 by a substantially horizontal portion is These uprightsor posts 13 are connected at their upper and lower ends by the bars orparts 17, and the front and rear posts 11 and 13 may be connected by thetubular bars or parts 18 and these tubular parts nay, be held to eachother by means of couplings, on; or other fittings such are employed inpipe fitting and architectural work so that the parts may be cheaplyand'easily made and assembled and still be comparatively light and verystrong. These posts 11 and 13 may havesuitable casters at their lowerends and these casters may be formed by holding a ball-19 in a clampingmember 20 secur l to the lower end of the posts.

' .To support the mattress and spring so that the same may be extendedor folded, l

- part or leg 22 of each device 21 is a bar or part'23 of the relativelymovable or extension member 24. Each bar or part 23 is adapted to slideint-he part 22 of the U- shaped devices so as to form a telescopicconnection therewith, and. held to the bars or parts 23 at the outerends thereof are the posts oruprights 25 formingthe legs for said member24. These legs or posts may be provided with casters 26 similar to thoseshown on the posts Hand 13, and said posts 25 are connected bylongitudinally-extending bars or parts 27 to secure the'necessary vstrength, the said bars and posts being connected by the usual form ofT-shaped fittings. The bars 23 are each connected atone end to a chain28 which is movably held within one of the devices 21, and each chain isprovided with a plurality of pins or bolts 29 which project outwardlythrough a slot 30 on the inner side of each of the U-shaped members 21.These slots 30 conform to the shape of the devices 21-, and extend thegreater part of the length of the lower legs or'stems 31 of said devices21 so that the chains 28 may be moved along the lower legs when the bedis in a folded position-I The inner end of each chainis fastened to aflexible connection 32, as a wire, cord or the like, and the other endof said flexible connection passes around a sheave or pulley journaledon the upper part of the stem 31 of each member 21' and is held to alongitudinally-extending bar or rod 33, the ends of which project withinthe slots 30 and are fastened to the inner end of the bars or parts '23of the extension member 24: so that when the extension member 24 1Sforced inward,

the chains or devices 28 will be positively moved therewith within thedevices 21 and will likewise move in the opposite direction when themember 24 is in an extended-position. 4

Each bolt 29 may be provided with a roller 3 1 which may be smooth orflanged as desired, and these rollers are adapted -to move along thelower cdge,-as 35, of the slots 30 so as to properly guide and supportthe chain or other connection within the tubular devices 21, and, theparts 23 of the extension-member 24 may be also provided with bolts 36,on which may be arranged rollers 37 or not as desired,'which are adaptedto move along the edge forming a guide therefor when said extensionmember is moved outward or inward. The bolts 29 and 36 are each providedwith an eye 38 to which may be fastened one end of a spring 39, theother end of which is held to a suitable n attress-supporting member 40,which serves to support the mattress and which may be held thereto inany desired way.

As will be seen when the extensionmemy her is folded, the mattress andmattress spring will be positively moved so as-to fold inward along thelower leg or stem 31 of the U-shaped devices so as th be entirely out ofthe way and will be likewise moved in the opposite direction when themember 24 is in an extended position as shown in Fig.- 3, and when themattress and spring is folded it ,will provide a space in which may bepacked pillows or other articles.

A shield or guard 41 may extend lengthwise of-the bed at the rearthereof, and this shield or guard'may be pivoted at 42 to the rear postsor uprights 13 and may be normally forced inward by springs A3 which arefastened to the guard and to the U- shaped devices 21 or other parts ofthe nor mally stationary member 10.- This guard serves to prevent themattress from striking the wall when the same is being folded orunfolded, and the offset of the legs or posts 13 serve to compensate forthe thickness of the mattress and supporting parts. v

Fig. 7 shows how the flexible connection to-the chain for moving italong the lower stem or part of the U-sliapcd devices '21 may bedispensed with. The chain 44: is held to the extension member 24, andsaid chain is engaged by a sprocket wheel 45, one for each chain, whichmay be connected by a shaft 46. The teeth of the sprocket wheel 45engage the chain 44, both above and below so that as the chain is movedinward the lower ,teeth will move the chain through the lower 7 leg, orstem 31 of the U-shaped devices,th'e said chain being supported byrollers asin the other figures if desired.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a simple and effective bed couchis provided in which two members are arranged to be moved relativelywith respect to each other to permit the bed to be extended or folded ina compact space; that simple means --is provided whereby the spring andmattress; may be automatically folded downward, and inward out of theway; that the bed may bemade entirely or partly of metal and the tubularparts joined together in such a way" that it may be easily assemblcd'andwill be very strong and comparativelylight in con struction; that saidbed may be made ornamental in appearance, and that one of the membersmay have a part thereof in telescopic connection with the other member,

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters fitting into a part of theUshaped devices and connected to the chain and to the longitudinal bar.and means movable with the extensible member and the chains forsupporting a mattress.

123. In a bed couch, the combination with a frame forming one member, ofU-shaped devices supported near each of the ends of said frame, a chainmovable in each of the U -shaped devices, an extensible member, boltsprojecting from the chains and from the extensible member, rollers heldto the bolts, a mattress member, springs connecting the mattress memberwith the bolts, and means for slidably holding the frame and extensiblemember together.

14. In a bed couch, the combination with a metallic frame forming onemember, of U- shaped devices supported near the ends of said frame in ahorizontal position, a chain movable in each of the U-shaped devices, aflexible connection attached at one end to the chain, a transverselymovable bar extending longitudinally of the frame to which the other endof the flexible connection is attached,.an extensible member. boltsprojecting from the chain and from the extensible member, rollers heldto the bolts, and mattress-supporting means held to the bolts.

15. The combination with a metallic frame, of U-shaped devices locatednear the ends thereof, an extension member, means movable with theextension member for supporting a mattress, a guard pivotally held tothe frame of one of the member and serving to prevent the mattress fromtouching the wall while the couch is in a foldedor extended position,and springs normally holding the guard in an upright position.

16. The combination With, a metallic "tame, of U-shaped devices locatednear the ends thereof, an extension member, means movable with theextension member for supporting a mattress, and a guard pirotally heldto the frame of one of the 1.;embers and serving to prevent the mattressfrom touching the wall while the couch is in a folded or extendedposition.

This specification signed and witnessed this 11th day of November A. D.1908.

EDGAR B. MILLER-T. \Vitnesses /V. A. Townes, Jr., E. KRAMER.

